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Monday, May 07, 2012

Serial lovers by Paula Roe

There’s
much excitement happening in my world this week! First, I’ve been hard at
work editing my latest book, A Precious Inheritance (October 2012),
which is number four in Harlequin Desire’s brand-new “The Highest Bidder”
Series (you can see the first book – Guilded Secrets by Maureen Child -
here)

Jake Vance
was danger in a designer suit, a charming corporate raider. When he set his
sights on Blackstone's, Australia's richest diamond dealers, Holly McLeod's
primary assignment was as his assistant; her secondary was as a spy. To her
amazement, she learned her dangerously sexy boss was the long-lost Blackstone
heir. And then Jake did the unthinkable: To save his new company, he proposed
marriage...an intimate one...to her!

This
story was only my second published book, so understandably, I was pretty
nervous come publication date. I needn’t have worried: it garnered some
great reviews, plus a nomination for Romance Writers of Australia’s Romantic
Book of the Year award :-D Even four years on, I still love my hero
and heroine, Jake and Holly, who were a dream to write. In fact, I love
all the stories in the series, not to mention the authors, whom I’d known for
years before publication. We had such a great time brainstorming
our stories, how to connect them, swapping pertinent paragraphs and devising
some beautiful ball gowns :-) And as an author, it’s always a thrill when you
see your characters mentioned in another book. Makes them feel more
alive, I think.

Which
leads me to my question - do you read series? And if so, do you prefer
the same characters (like JD Robb’s Eve and Roarke) or linked/family stories,
like Day LeClaire’s Dante series? What do you like to see in a
series? What do you hate? (yes, I will file this information for
future use!) One commenter will be the lucky winner of a copy of my June
release, the 2nd book in the Diamonds Down Under series.

Hi Nas and thanks for dropping by! He does look young, doesn't he? The guy on the first book looks way older ;-)

I'm with you there, I like to see connected characters. If they're the same in every book I think you can run a risk of having the reader become bored with them (but having said that, I'm still not bored with Eve and Roarke!)

Hi Paula, I love connected series and would rather read stories where a secondary character becomes the main character in the next book--and so on!Congratulations on the re-release. I remember thoroughly enjoying BOARDROOMS & A BILLIONAIRE HEIR when it first came out.

I love connected books, especially the kind where you see brothers or sisters or friends in one book and then follow the story of the others. Not so keen on following the same couple through more than one book especially if it means the happy ending is sullied by unfaithfulness before they get back together.

Congratulations of the release of this latest book. I love series that deal with a central theme and are written by various authors. I think the Diamonds Down Under was the first series to do this. Later, a group of authors wrote a Regency set series called Silk and Scandal. I think there were 7 or 8 books by various authors in the series. Great idea.

I love books written in series. I read mainly historical romances and some of my favorite authors write most of their books to be connected to others in some form. Case in point: Stephanie Laurens and her Cynster family...now being extended to the sisters of the original 6 Cynster men. And very good stories too. Julia Quinn is now writing a 3 or 4 book series with her famous Smythe-Smith family from her Bridgerton books. In most cases, I will wait until I have all books in the series before I begin reading.

Hi Paula,I love series. The best part of reading series is getting to revisit with characters from the previous books. There are instances where the series should have ended a few books earlier because of staleness.

I'll read series novels if they're loosely connected and can stand alone. If they're so closely connected that the story isn't resolved at the end, or we must read previous volumes to make sense of the sequels, I'll probably give them a pass.

Clearly series are useful to the readers in giving them an idea of what to expect in a novel. They also make sense in terms of sales. A reader who likes the first volume in a series will naturally want to read the rest. Series virtually guarantee that an author's subsequent books will sell.

Series romances are so numerous nowadays that it's hard to avoid them. But I have so little time for reading that I don't think I can work my way through a series of several books. Unless, of course, I really dig them.

Good luck with the publication of "A Precious Inheritance" and the reissue of "Boardrooms & A Billionaire Heir"!

I love reading series regardless of if they are same characters or linked/family stories. It might be kinda to keep things fresh in each book when doing linked/family stories, but it can really be great to read the updates on past fav couples. I can't say that there is anything that I've come across that I hate in any kind of series.

Congrats on the new release. Love series books for the reason that you connect with the characters so much that you just don't want to let go. What I don't like, and I've just had a recent encounter with one fav Paranormal series, is that at the end you feel unfulfilled because the tension and conflict and all those wonderful things that grip you aren't there. It's a flat feeling.

Anyway I just wanted to stop by and share since I'm in a babbling kinda mood.

Hi Mary Anne! I like a good stand-alone too. I think JD Robb can qualify as that, even though she has reoccurring characters. There's a few series I'm following ATM, including Jeaniene Frost, Charlaine Harris, Mary-Janice Davidson (hmmm... all paras. WHy is that?) and having to wait for the next one is killing me! I took a big chance on Keri Arthur and was totally satisfied with her Riley Jenson series.

I love it when the author brings back a previous couple! I think I first encountered this with Shirlee Busbee's Lady Vixen, where her couple from Gypsy Lady made an appearance. It was like a little 'bonus' easter egg :-)

Oh, snap Karen! I'm doing that with the Karen Marie Moning Fever series :-) Read the first one and have to buy the rest. I will now have to re-read the first one again, however, because it's been a few years ;-)

Paula, you can be sure that I will be looking for the reissued version of the DDU series. Itwill be my third version of this series: first- the originals, second - the Australian ver-sion which I won in a contest, and third - the upcoming reissue.

BTW, I love any & all series, especially those by Suzanne Brockman, Linda Lael Miller, and Stephanie Laurens!